Tuesday, 20 December 2011

A very brief post to welcome the election of Johann Lamont and Anas Sarwar as the first leadership team of the newly devolved Scottish Labour Party, and to congratulate Johann on picking a Holyrood shadow team which is genuinely a cause for optimism as we unite to champion Labour values in devolved Scotland.

Of particular interest to me are the appointments of Kezia Dugdale as Shadow Minister for Youth Employment, Drew Smith as Shadow Minister for Social Justice and Jenny Marra as Shadow Minister for Community Safety and Legal Affairs. Among the best and brightest of the 2011 intake, they will now be at the heart of some of the key portfolios in Labour's shadow team, and they represent a new generation of Labour ideas.

They are also all active on Twitter and other social media, and are flying the flag for the open, inclusive politics to which our party and our country should aspire. The combination of experience and new thinking which makes up our new shadow cabinet genuinely does make me excited for the future of Scottish Labour.